Royal Mail walkouts in the run-up to Christmas had a worse effect on business than rail strikes, new data reveals.
According to retail consultants Springboard, visits to high streets increased 12.7 percent in December compared to the same month in 2021.
Springboard found footfall across all retail destinations was nearly 10 percent higher than a year ago, despite a 20 percent drop in the final week before Christmas due to four days of railway strikes.
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The data shows Christmas shoppers provided a critical boost to retail and hospitality despite the chaos caused by the ongoing walkouts by rail workers as a row over pay and working conditions shows no sign of ending.
That was supported by trading updates from Next, Greggs, and B&M on Thursday, which all saw share prices rise as sales exceeded expectations.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also released data that backed up business complaints about the impact of Royal Mail strikes.
It reported the action had affected 16 percent of UK firms in November, a crucial month for Christmas preparations.
More than a quarter (28 percent) of those companies claimed they were unable to find the products they needed.
On days specifically chosen to interfere with online shopping deliveries on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 115,000 frontline employees of Royal Mail went on strike that month.
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Six days in December, including Christmas Eve, were lost to strikes related to the salary and working conditions dispute, which created enormous backlogs.
The Communication Workers Union-led Royal Mail dispute has no sign of resolution.
Although no fresh strike dates have been declared in anticipation of more negotiations between Royal Mail and union leaders, it has grown more intensely personal and entrenched.
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Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said: “There is no doubt that rail strikes impact retail and hospitality at the time they occur.
“However, the longer-term impact of the strikes on December’s footfall appeared to be negligible.”
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She added: “While many employees worked from home in December due to the strikes, consumers were not deterred from visiting bricks-and-mortar stores and shifted some of their trips away from high streets to shopping centres and retail parks which can be more easily reached by car.”
Ms. Wehrle also pointed out that if the strain on household budgets from the higher cost of living was not evident ahead of Christmas, then the risk would be that retail, leisure and hospitality destinations could suffer in the months ahead.
“We should expect footfall in January to be circa 20 percent lower than in December, which is the magnitude of decline that has occurred in January in every year since Springboard started publishing its footfall data in 2009.”
Source: Sky News
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